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California's overhaul of prison education programs a blueprint for others

Wayne D'Orio

July 12, 2019 |

The Hechinger Report |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

In the six years after California prisons became the first in the nation to offer college classes in nearly every prison, thousands of incarcerated people have enrolled in classes and have outperformed free-world students in grades and passing rates. While such programs have been shown to reduce crimes committed by those released from prison, the ultimate goal of California’s program is to see the benefits ripple through communities that the formerly incarcerated go home to.

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‘I'm not the only one who has a mom in jail': Camp reunites locked-up mothers with their kids

Allison Dikanovic

July 11, 2019 |

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Camp Reunite is bringing together women experiencing incarceration with their children. The camp was hosted at Taycheedah, a correctional facility in Fond du Lac, WI, and while the kids were there had less security and more carnival games. Parental incarceration has a strong effect on children and on the parent/child bond, something Camp Reunite hopes to help repair.

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Detroit Bail Project aims to disrupt the process of cash bail and incarceration

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak

July 09, 2019 |

Model D |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

The Bail Project is posting bond for men and women who cannot afford to pay and haven’t been convicted of a crime. Based in Detroit, the nonprofit has locations across the country and uses a revolving fund to bail out individuals, meaning once the bond is recovered, the funding is then available for another person. Its Detroit location has bailed out nearly 200 individuals in an effort to end mass incarceration and prove that holding people – most of whom are people of color or experiencing poverty – does not diminish recidivism.

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A ‘Second Chance' After 27 Years in Prison: How Criminal Justice Helped an Ex-Inmate Graduate

Erica Green

July 08, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Since 2016, the Second Chance Pell program has been providing financial aid for those experiencing incarceration to pursue a college education. Started under the Obama administration, it has gained bipartisan support and traction in the Trump administration as well. Considering 90% of incarcerated individuals will be released, the Second Chance Pell program serves as a demonstrated commitment to reduce recidivism and mass incarceration.

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How Norway turns criminals into good neighbours

Emma Jane Kirby

July 07, 2019 |

BBC |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Norway, Halden

Norway’s Halden Prison is taking a different approach to incarceration: emphasizing rehabilitation over punishment, which has led to a 20% decrease in recidivism in just two years. Over the past two decades, the country has sought rigorous criminal justice reform, which at Halden Prison means job training and certifications, yoga and other recreational activities, reenvisioning the role guards play, and spaces that look more like home than a jail cell.

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What if Fort Worth hired ex-convicts to fight violent crime? It's working elsewhere

Nichole Manna

June 24, 2019 |

Fort Worth Star-Telegram |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Richmond, California

Within a year of founding its Office of Neighborhood Safety to prevent gun violence, Richmond saw its most violent neighborhood drop from 27 murders to three. The program pairs former gang members and formerly incarcerated men with people deemed at risk of shooting others or getting shot. The mentors are paid a salary by the city, and the program "fellows" get paid a stipend if they stay out of trouble and respond well to the program's life-skills counseling. The program expanded citywide and to other cities, based on its record of keeping fellows alive and shootings in decline.

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Hope For Prisoners Teams Up With Las Vegas Cops to Help Ex-Offenders

Jake Bullinger

June 21, 2019 |

Bitterroot |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Las Vegas, Nevada

Hope for Prisoners helps more than 500 people per year adjust to living and working productively after serving sentences in jail or prison, thanks in large part to a team of mentors – many of whom are police officers. In an exercise in developing two-way empathy – formerly incarcerated see police willing to help them, and the police see people with criminal records working to improve themselves – the program tailors its services to people's needs and skills. Since 2010, the program has graduated more than 2,600 people, nearly two-thirds of whom found work and nearly all of whom avoided new arrests.

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For-profit philanthropy: Portland labor supply business expanding to other states

David Singer

June 20, 2019 |

WGME-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Portland, Maine

A company in Portland, Maine works to "dignify temp-work" through the employment of former convicts, addicts, and other individuals in rough transitional phases of life. The company operates as a for-profit business working for social good and facilitates a daily meeting for workers to check in with each other and form a supportive community.

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Portugal, drugs and decriminalisation

Kathleen Hawkins Hannah McNeish

June 18, 2019 |

BBC |

Radio |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Portugal

In 2001, facing a 20-year opioid epidemic, Portugal decriminalized all personal drug use, meaning people carrying drugs for personal use could no longer face prosecution or jail. The approach, met with public support, offered people access to services like safe injection sites and counseling and showed demonstrable success in declining opioid related deaths, the spread of infectious diseases, and drug use all together. As the rest of the world faces a similar crisis, Portugal could be a model response.

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L.A. Homeless and Ex-Felons Find Second Chance in Skid Row Running Club

Alexis Garcia

June 18, 2019 |

Los Angeleno |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

L.A. Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell started the Skid Row Running Club, which leads runs every morning with formerly incarcerated addicts. Many of the participants have led successful lives after running, giving credence to the evidence of a linkage between aerobic exercise and a reparation of the parts of the brain that have been damaged by drug and alcohol abuse.

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